Mini Faux Saplings from Upcycled Christmas Decor

Last Christmas I came upon a barrel of mini saplings at a local store. I wanted buy them all and give one to every person I know because they were do darn cute!! I didn’t buy any, however, because in our neck of the woods, the standard lot size does not accommodate planting a pine tree any old place on your property on the cuteness factor alone.

But the seedling of an idea was formed.  Perhaps I could make some mini faux saplings of my own. I considered buy a bulk amount of fake pine tree branches and that would have worked for this project, too.

But in the end I choose to try and make them with this thrifted Christmas pine decor piece.  I thought the branches had a somewhat realistic look and that was good enough for me.

Mini faux saplings from upcycled Christmas decor

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Supplies

Pine Christmas wreath or decor – or –  faux pine branches (like these)

Styrofoam balls cut in half (I used 2″ balls that were proportionate to the branches I had)

Burlap or coffee sack fabric cut to rounded squares (Approximately 10″- 12″ diameter per pieces)

Twine or ribbon

Wire cutters

Serrated knife

Scissors

Step 1) I used wire cutters to cut the branches off my salvaged Christmas decor piece.

Step 2) The 2″ Styrofoam balls were cut in half using a serrated knife. To do this, I started slicing along the middle fo the ball and continued to turn the ball around until the knife cut all the way through.  None of them were perfect cuts, but they were close enough.

Step 3)  Insert the tip of the seedling branch into the center of the Styrofoam half round.

Step 4) I cut a rounded square piece of burlap coffee sack fabric, wrapped it up over the Styrofoam piece, and tied if off tightly with twine. Double knotting was my friend on this step.

Step 6) Trim burlap down so it looks proportionate.  Starting with a slightly larger piece of burlap and trimming it down a little was what worked best for me.  After doing a few of these, I was able to cut the rest of my burlap pieces to a size closer to what was ideal.  That way I didn’t have to trim off as much excess on the remainder of the saplings.

Easy to make holiday hostess gift, party favor, group or teen craft idea and more.

While I would never argue that real saplings are the end all in pine tree gifting, faux saplings make for a clever substitute.

Benefits of going faux? They don’t have to be watered. They don’t have to be planted. You can re-use them next year.

Festive on a mantel or in a tablescape.

More EASY Christmas craft ideas you might like:

Mossy Christmas tree ornaments

DIY Pine Tree Scenes on Jar Candles

Rustic Table Top Branch Christmas Tree

6 Christmas Craft Ideas Inspired by Nature

Happy weekend ~ Amy